He ran like someone who had never been there before.
My armchair opinion: all the trash-talking got him so psyched up he couldn’t keep calm that first 100, then he got antsy, and blew his load the next 400
^ THIS ^
couldn't keep his head in the game
Sadly this is true. There’s a reason he always starts in last…it’s because he measures out that first 400 and doesn’t blow his load the first 50. Today he started quicker and then went too hard that first 400. I was excited to see the 54.8, but looking back at it, the nerves from his war with Kerr got to him. I think even without a rabbit, pacing lights alone would have allowed Jakob to run 3:27ish. Would that have been enough to win? Who knows.
Sadly this is true. There’s a reason he always starts in last…it’s because he measures out that first 400 and doesn’t blow his load the first 50. Today he started quicker and then went too hard that first 400. I was excited to see the 54.8, but looking back at it, the nerves from his war with Kerr got to him. I think even without a rabbit, pacing lights alone would have allowed Jakob to run 3:27ish. Would that have been enough to win? Who knows.
I think tactically what most are not seeing is that he dials it up way too quickly. He did need to take this race out hard and go 327 or lower. But when you go easy the first 100 then sprint to the front and go through 400 at 54.8 it means you blew a ton of energy for no gain. He could have run that first 400 in 55 but more evenly and he may have had more in the tank to hold pace in the end. The 54.8 was a mistake but how fast he ran 100-400 was even worse.